FORCING 



FORCING 



599 



with plenty of air will grow fruit satisfactorily. One of 

 the main points is in the watering. Should the trees get 

 too dry, or on the other hand saturated, the chances are 

 that the fruit will turn yellow and drop, but with good 

 judgment and a certain amount of care success is as- 



Bench of winter Beans. 



sured. The trees should be repotted every fall, as they 

 need so much water during the summer months that the 

 soil becomes depleted. However, one should be careful 

 not to overpot. A compost suitable for potted trees is a 

 fairly heavy loam, and say three parts of soil to one of 

 well rotted manure, with a little wood ashes and bone 

 meal worked in. Potted trees are interesting, as there 

 can be a considerable variety of fruit grown in this way. 

 Figs. 847 and 848 illustrate the method of pruning. 



Grapes. In planting grape vines, 2-year-old canes 

 should be set. Plant the canes 3 or 3j^ ft. apart. There 

 is nothing gained by crowding, and in planting young 

 vines, cut them down to about 18 in., to insure good, 

 established vines from the bottom. There can be no 

 hard and fast lines laid down as to how long the vines 

 will bear profitably. With good treatment they should 

 be profitable for 15 or 20 years. A grapery should be 

 started with a night temperature of 45-50 F. and a rise 

 of 10 or 15 with sun heat in the day. The temperature 

 should be raised 5 every two weeks, until a night tem- 

 perature of 65 is reached. After the grapes are set, a 

 night temperature of 70 will be the right thing. The 

 vines should be syringed three times a day until they 

 are started into growth ; then twice a day until the foli- 

 age gets heavy, and thereafter once every bright day is 

 all that is necessary, mornings preferred. After the 

 grapes commence to color, syringing should be stopped. 

 Foliage is another thing to be considered. With our hot 

 sun a fairly good covering is necessary. The shoots 

 should be stopped at the second or third leaf beyond 

 the bunch, and all laterals pinched at the first leaf. 

 The aim should be to have a nice covering of foliage 

 over the house, but avoid severe crowding. Grape 

 thinning requires good judgment. Always make it a 

 practice, if possible, to thin the bunches all that is nec- 

 essary the first time, as going over the bunches the sec- 

 ond time is not so satisfactory. A bunch must be so 

 thinned that each berry has room to develop without 

 crushing. Water also plays a prominent part in finish- 

 ing a crop of grapes. While grape vines are moisture- 

 loving plants, it is poor policy to give them a heavy 

 watering after the grapes begin to color. If the plants 

 receive a heavy watering when the grapes start their 

 second swelling, it should be enough until the grapes 

 ripen. After the crop is off the treatment is simple : 

 keep full air on top and bottom ; syringe the foliage 

 if red spider makes its appearance, and water the bor- 

 der when dry. Vines that are not intended to be started 

 until February or March should be pruned when the 

 wood is thoroughly ripe. The canes should be brought 

 down and wrapped in burlap to keep the sun off them, 

 and then a matter of 5 or of frost in the house will do 

 no harm. In severe weather it pays to turn a chink of 

 heat in the house. As on all other fruits, there are many 

 varieties, but only a limited number of standard sorts. 

 For an early grape there is no better than the old stand- 



ard Black Hamburg, which is easy to handle and a very 

 satisfactory variety. A companion to it is Buckland 

 Sweetwater, a white grape ripening at the same time, 

 though of second-rate quality. Its earliness, however, 

 makes it worthy of a place. 



Muscat of Alexandria should have a house 

 to itself. To finish this noble grape to per- 

 fection requires more heat than ordinary. It 

 can be grown with fair results in a mixed 

 house, but where there are three compart- 

 ments for early, midseason and late varieties, 

 the midseason compartment should be planted 

 to Muscats. Madresfield Court is also a grape 

 of fine quality. Unfortunately it is difficult to 

 handle, although it is usually planted in a 

 house with such easily handled varieties as 

 Gros Maroc, Gros Colmar, Barbarossa, Mrs. 

 Prince, Alicante. For another view, see Grape. 

 Peaches and Nectarines. The same depth 

 of border recommended for the grape vines 

 will be all right for the peach. These, also, 

 must have perfect drainage or the trees will 

 soon get into a sickly condition. The peach 

 and nectarine have a tendency to rank growth 

 when planted in the border. Care should be taken not 

 to make the border too rich. It is an easy matter to ap- 

 ply food when the trees need it. The writer has found 

 a light application of wood ashes two or three times in 

 the season a capital thing. Crushed bone is also benefi- 

 cial. When starting the house, a top-dressing of soil 

 and cow-manure, say two of soil to one of manure, 

 should keep the trees in a healthy condition. One im- 

 portant point in starting a peach house, especially early 

 in the season, say the first of January or earlier, is to 

 start easy. Nothing is gained by rushing. There are 

 numerous varieties of peaches and nectarines adapted 

 to Forcing. The following is a selection of the best that 

 the writer has grown under glass : Peaches, Early 

 Hale Early, Alexander, Condor, Mountain Rose, Haine's 

 Early; Midseason Foster, Bellegarde, Noblesse, Old- 

 mixon Free ; Late Crawford's Late, Sea Eagle, Prin- 

 cess of Wales, Lady Palmerston. 



Nectarines, Early Cardinal, Early Rivers, Advance, 

 Lord Napier ; Midseason Improved Downton, Drydeu, 



847. Pot-grown Pear 

 Tree in bloom. 



Pot-grown Apple Tree 

 in bearing. 



Byron, Elruge, Milton ; Late Chaucer, Newton, Spen- 

 cer, Stanwick, Humboldt, Victoria, Trees for planting 

 in the house should be especially prepared for the 

 work. A year would be lost with such trees as are usu- 



